Not new, but starting again

[angieg1123]

Yes I did. It would not be the first time Abbie and Dan sent me a preggo male. I got a pair from them a few years ago that did an egg transfer in the bag...I know this because there were a few eggs on the bottom of the bag. So they either did it in the bag, or he pushed a few eggs out in transport.

 

[angieg1123]

I figure in a week or 2 they will be yellow...seems to be the norm for any I get. No matter where I get them from.

 

[angieg1123]

I have been making googley eyes at them for hours....good thing it was lights out time or I would still be sitting next to the tank.

 

[vlangel]

I have been making googley eyes at them for hours....good thing it was lights out time or I would still be sitting next to the tank.

I was the same way with my new pair.

 

[angieg1123]

Getting closer to being wet

Getting closer to being wet

I finished plumbing the 60g cube today. Everything is dry fit, and I will glue it all tomorrow. I was 2 elbows short so I will pick them up tomorrow as well. Then I will leak test it. Sunday I plan to Epoxy the Branch rock together into some awesome structures. Once that cures I will start cycling the rock. The sump is located on the other side of the wall in the bathroom closet. Since this is in my office and I work from home, I needed it to be silent.

 

[angieg1123]

The female figured out the feeding dish on day 2. She is all about the food lol. The male is pregnant so I am target feeding him. He almost never comes out of hiding. He is pretty serious about keeping his pouch / fry safe. I do not intend to raise this batch of fry. I'm not ready. I was not expecting him arrive with a pouch full. Being they are young I figured I had a month or 2 before the fry tanks needed to be set up.

 

[angieg1123]

feeding dish

feeding dish

couple of pics of female in the feeding dish...and 1 of the male before he headed behind the rocks.

 

[angieg1123]

Update

Update

Did some work on the 60g cube. Rock work is epoxied and done. I plan to rearrange the rock. Not happy with how it looks, I just needed a break lol. I had it all set up on the floor and I loved it. Of course I can't get it to look the same in the tank..grrr. You all know how it goes...ummm nope, not quite right. Tear it apart 30 times before we are happy with it lol :uzi: 40 lbs. Sand is in. 20lbs more will be added. Sump is done. All plumbing is complete and leak checked.

 

[angieg1123]

Updated pic of the seahorses

Updated pic of the seahorses

Seahorses are doing Great! The small pouch prolapse on the male has corrected itself. Female is still white / silver. Male is yellow.
The male looked pregnant when he arrived. I was out of town for a funeral and when I got home he was no longer pregnant, but the pouch prolapse was gone. Pretty sure he had the fry and the filter system or the mollies got them. Was most likely a small brood. Once he pushed the fry out the prolapse corrected itself. I'm just glad he is no longer hiding all of the time and is more social now. They will always be the next batch

The female is never far from the feeding dish...she is serious about her food lol.

 

[vlangel]

They look great Angie. My females are always chow hounds as well.

 

[angieg1123]

It's wet

It's wet

Making the last bit of water now...should be full and running by tonight.

Spent 135.00 on zoanthid frags for this tank last night. All plumbing is done. Not a single leak, so I didn't have to worry about that.

I purchased a 1/4 hp chiller and chiller pump a few days ago..that should be here this week.

Now all I have to do is decide...LEDs or T5's for the light. I have time...no lights needed during the cycle.

I do have a wavemaker, but I want to wait and see what the flow is like for the seahorses before I add it.

Now it's just the waiting game....wait for the cycle to complete. Wait for the seahorses to grow a bit, wait for my bank acct. to recover lol.
I am adding a few pieces of LR from one of my other tanks, and I am also adding some chaeto from my reef tank sump to this sump. There are millions of pods in there so easy to seed this tank.

 

[vlangel]

Very nice! That is going to make a lovely home for your ponies. I have T5s but if I were setting up a new tank I would probably go LEDs. Less heat, less energy consumption and no changing bulbs. When I bought my fixture in 2012 LEDs were still pretty pricey but I think they are competitive now.

 

[angieg1123]

Yes...the mars aqua 165w LED is only 94.00...if I don't have to replace the lamps every year, and I can adjust the intensity they are worth it. I switched my 65g reef from MH with actinic T5s over last year and I love it. The LEDs are even strong enough for my Ritteri anemone, and that is one of the biggest light hogs out there! The ritteri has tripled in size in 1 year...and super healthy.

I honestly can't wait to get the 60g cube cycled. I already know I will need more seahorses. 1 pair in there is not going to be enough. Its going to be a game of "where's Waldo" every time I look in the tank. It is massive for the juvi's right now. 2 pair minimum. I may talk to Dan and Abbie and see if their Reidi are on the same system as their erectus. That is where I got my erectus from. If there are on the same system it should be safe to have 1 pair of erectus and 1 pair Reidi in the cube I may get my hybrids after all lol.

 

[vlangel]

Thats a cool idea. I never thought to ask them about that. I am not planning on raising fry but I know reidi sometimes come in red and I would love a red or reddish seahorse. I will be ordering 2 more ponies from Dan and Abbie the beginning of April since I only have 2 seahorses in a 56 gallon column with a 20 gallon sump.

 

[angieg1123]

I know reidi sometimes come in red and I would love a red or reddish seahorse.

The red / orange one in my avatar was an Erectus...she was beautiful. The male of that pair was so yellow, I swear the glare off of him required sunglasses lol....

 

[rayjay]

I would love a red or reddish seahorse.

Just a reminder that when getting a "coloured" seahorse, it may not remain that way when placed in your tank with different surroundings.

 

[angieg1123]

True...no matter what color I get, they always turn yellow or orange in my tanks. I bought some snowshines from Tammi...beautiful black with bright silvery white saddle markings...loved them. 3 weeks later I had..you guessed it...Yellow seahorses lol. Don't get me wrong...I love orange and yellow. I was just wanting a pair of blacks and a pair of yellows together. The contrast in the tank was awesome...for 3 weeks. :facepalm:

 

[angieg1123]

Done

Done

My 1/4 hp chiller arrived today so I got that plumbed and the tank is cycling. I decided to go with the T5 light over the LEDs because my zoanthids tend to grow better under T5s then the LEDs. If I decide I can't live with the T5s I can always buy the LEDs later.

The light, macros, and misc. items will be here in the next week or so.

I also purchased a 1/15 hp chiller for the fry tanks. Summer is coming and I want to be ready. For now I will hook it up to the 37g that the seahorses are in until the 60g cube completes the cycle period. A fan on the top of the tank has kept is stable at 72F, but as it warms up the fan won't be able to cool it enough. I live in an upper apt and my house is 77 and my heat has been off for over a week. Who would think I would need to open windows in February in Wisconsin lol.

A box of coral frags also arrived today. They are in the 37g until it is safe to move them into the 60g cube.

Now that everything is done, I just have to sit back and wait, and wait, and wait some more.

I will upload some pics tomorrow if I have time. I'm tired and the tank is cloudy from messing with it today.

Seahorses are still doing great. I spoke with Abbie from SeahorseSource and she said it wouldn't be a problem to add a pair of H. Reidi in with the H. Erectus. They put them together and have had no issues. I always thought mixing species was bad...but I trust Dan and Abbie. So it is looking like the final seahorse list in this tank will be 1 pair of Erectus and 1 pair of Reidi.

 

[angieg1123]

I plumbed the 1/15 hp chiller to the 37g tank today. I also thinned out some of the feather caulerpa in the 37g. I added it to the 60g cube. Everything is moving along well. I do plan to add another pair of seahorses once they are moved into the 60g. I just do not want to add them to the 37g right now. I have a huge issue with small tanks and too many seahorses.

I have the chiller temp. set to 70 on the 37g for now. I may bring it up to 72. Some of my zoanthids don't seem happy with the temp. drop.

The 60g is getting a few more macros this week and I am adding some pink xenia to the 37g. I know it can get to plague proportions, but I like it. Remind me how much I like it in 6 months when I am removing rocks to scrape it off lol.

The male and female are courting, and the male is keeping that pouch puffed up with water. (it better be water in there)

 

[vlangel]

It looks very nice. I love tonga too but have never used it. I have boxes of dried rock left over from prior 90 gallon and a 125 gallon tanks. I just couldn't bring myself to pay for more. I am cheap that way.

I hear you on sand. I definitely like the looks of a sand bed better. I just felt that I was not an accomplished enough seahorse keeper and for me a bb was a less risky option. I painted the underneath of my tank and that helps. I am liking being able to blast the floor to lift everything into suspension. One little pile of debris gathers in a lower flow area and I can syphon it out very easily and I like that. Maybe someday I will have a sandbed again.